Installation for the granulation of slag



May 31, 1949. R. DOLEZAL 2,471,559

INSTALLATION FOR THE GRANULATION OF SLAG Filed Nov. 24, 1948 INVENTOR Patented May 311, 1949 lTED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application November 24, 1948, Serial No. 61,816 .ll'n Czechoslovakia November 2'7, 1947 5 Claims. (Cl. 18-2.4)

My invention relates to an installation for the granulation of slag.

In hitherto used installations for slag granulation the sla flowing from the hearth enters through an opening, therein into a granulation chamber and falls into water contained therein. Cooling water having a temperature oi about 20 C. is introduced into said granulation chamber and the used water leaves the same having a temperature of about 80 C. In case that reuse of the water is intended it is cooled in any convenient way for example in a cooling tower.

This known method has many disadvantages. It requires great quantities of water and accordingly large lines in view of the fact that the cooling of the slag from about 1400 C. to about 100 C. requires about 508 kilocal for each kilogram slag, this being equivalent to a water consumption. of about 8.5 Kg. Water for each kilogram slag. In addition thereto the heat given up by the slag has not been utilized, and in case of reusing water quite large quantities thereof are lost by :ation during its cooling; Finally it was nee to keep the temperature of the water in the granulating chamber below 100 C. i. e. below its boiling point to prevent a penetration of ensuing steam into the hearth where said steam WC r duce the temperature in the hearth, a .votud escape with the flue gases. On its way in o the hearth said steam would also uniavorably cool the discharge opening while at economy in the operation of installaticns ror te granulation of slag and to avoid disadvantages described above. Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following specification when read connection with the accompanying drawin showing schematically one embodiment of my invention.

The slag formed in the hearth a enters through an opening into the granulating chamber b which is partly filled with cooling Water. The pressure in said chamber 72 is identical with the pressure in the hearth, i. e. about 1 atm., so that a flow of flue from the furnace into the granulating chamber is prevented. The cooling water circulates from the chamber 22 through the rising pipe I into evaporating chamber e and from there through the comiecting pipe 2', the pump it and the feeding pipe 0 back into the granulating chambar 1). Additional cooling water of about 0 C. is introduced into the granulating chamber b through the pipe :2 in an amount suflicient to water a 1d replace the amount of water evaporated in the chamber 2 and to keep the water temperature in the granulating chamber b well under 100 C. to prevent steam formation therein. For example, the cooling water leaving the chamber 1) is held at about 86 C. and the temperature of the water reentering the granulation chamber from the evaporation chamber through the pipe 0 is held at about C.

The pressure in the evaporation chamber 6 is reduced to or below a point where the warmed up cooling water entering said chamber a through the rising pipe f evaporates, for example to '02 atm. which pressure corresponds to a water boiling point of about 60 C. The said under-pres sure may be obtained by any known pressure reducing device, for example by the steam ejector 9 arranged in the steam discharge pipe line h attached to said evaporation chamber e. The evaporation in the chamber e results in a cooling off of the water, for example from C. to 60 C., before it is returned through the pipe line i to the granulating chamber 1) by means of the pump k.

The steam formed from the evaporating cooling water in the evaporation chamber e is sucked therefrom through the pipe h by means of the ejector 9 into which live steam is introduced through the pipe m. The mixture of evaporated steam and live steam flows through the condenser 01' other cooler Z and is thereafter reused in any suitable way, for example reintroduced into the granulating chamber 1) through the pipe d.

The installation and the method used in its operation have the great advantage that the pr c ponderating amount of cooling water circulateS in a short circuit betweenthe granulating chamber and the evaporating chamber re'qiiiri'ng little outside energy for the operation of the pump it and that the heat taken by the cooling water from the granulated slag is used for steam formation in the evaporation chamber which steam may be utilized in any convenient manner for example in the condenser Z to heat the condensate from a steam turbine. Another advantage lies therein that the additional cooling water entering the granulating chamber b through the pipe d is not lost by vaporization in the vaporator e but is again utilized after condensation in the cooler Z as stated above.

In order to prevent a flooding of the evaporating chamber e by Water entering through the pipe f it is appropriate to place said chamber e so high above the granulating chamber 1) that the efiective water column between the respective water surfaces in the chambers b and e is equal to the diiference of pressure in said chambers. In the shown example, therefore, the water column should have a height of about eight meters equivalent to the difference in pressure of 0.8 atm.

Although I have shown and described only one embodiment of my invention, I am fully aware that many modifications thereof are possible. My invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except insofar as necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. Installation for the granulation of slag comprising in combination a granulating chamber adapted to hold cooling water and having a top opening for the introduction of melted slag, an evaporation chamber, a pipe line to conduct warmed up cooling water from the granulating chamber into the evaporating chamber, a second pipe line to return the recooled Water from the evaporating chamber into the granulating chamber and means effecting such return flow of the water, means to keep the temperature of the warmed up cooling water within the granulating chamber below its evaporation temperature, and means to reduce the pressure within the evaporating chamber below the evaporation pressure equivalent to the temperature of the warmed up cooling water entering said evaporating chamber.

2. Installation for the granulation of slag comprising in combination a granulating chamber adapted to hold cooling water and having a top opening for the introduction of melted slag, an evaporation chamber, a pipe line to conduct warmed up cooling water from the granulating chamber into the evaporating chamber, a second pipe line to return the recooled water from the evaporating chamber into the granulating chamber and means efiecting such return flow of the water, an additional pipe line connected to the granulating chamber to supply fresh cooling water in an amount to keep the Water within the said chamber below its evaporation temperature, and means to reduce the pressure within the evaporating chamber below the evaporation pressure equivalent to the temperature of the warmed up cooling water entering said evaporating chamber.

3. Installation for the granulation of slag comprising in combination a granulating chamber adapted to hold cooling water and having a top opening for the introduction of melted slag, an evaporation chamber, a pipe line to conduct warmed up cooling water from the granulating chamber into the evaporating chamber, a second pipe line to return the recooled water from the evaporating chamber into the granulating chamber and means effecting such return flow of the water, means to keep the temperature of the warmed up cooling water within the granulating chamber below its evaporation temperature, a steam conduit attached to the evaporating chamber, and means ejecting steam from said evaporation chamber through said conduit and maintaining in said chamber a pressure below the evaporation pressure equivalent to the temperature of the warmed up water entering said evaporating chamber.

4. Installation for the granulating of slag comprising in combination a granulating chamber adapted to hold cooling water and having a top opening for the introduction of melted slag, an evaporation chamber, a pipe line to conduct warmed up cooling water from the granulating chamber into the evaporating chamber, a second pipe line to return the recooled water from the evaporating chamber into the granulating chamber and means efiecting such return flow of the water, means to keep the temperature of the warmed up cooling water within the granulating chamber beiow its evaporation temperature, a steam conduit attached to the evaporating chamber including means ejecting steam from said chamber through said conduit and maintaining in said chamber a pressure below the evaporation pressur equivalent to the temperature of the warmed up water entering said evaporating chamber, said steam conduit passing through means to withdraw heat from the steam and return the condensed and cooled off steam to the granulating chamber.

5. Installation for the granulation of slag comprising in combination a granulating chamber adapted to hold cooling water and having a top opening for the introduction of melted slag, an elevated evaporation chamber, a pipe lin to conduct warmed up cooling water from the granulating chamber into the evaporating chamber, a second pipe line to return the recooled water from the evaporating chamber into the granulating chamber and means effecting such return flow of the water, means to keep the temperature of the warmed up cooling water within the granulating chamber below its evaporation temperature, and means to reduce the pressure within the evaporating chamber below the evaporation pressure equivalent to the temperature of the warmed up cooling water entering said evaporating chamber, the water column between the elevated evaporating chamber and the granulating chamber being equivalent to the difference in pressure between said two chambers.

RICHARD DOLEZAL.

No references cited. 

